


Interlude: Before the Blade Drifts

by alleyesonthehindenburg



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: During Canon, Gen, Missing Scene, implied Estellise Sidos Heurassein/Rita Mordio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26877934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alleyesonthehindenburg/pseuds/alleyesonthehindenburg
Summary: (Schwann would stand at attention for ages, gaze fixed straight ahead as Alexei made whatever adjustments he saw fit. He never dared ask. It wasn’t his place to know. He was just a vessel, hollowed out to make room for the Commandant’s ambitions. Dead man walking.)
Relationships: Rita Mordio & Raven
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Interlude: Before the Blade Drifts

In Capua Nor, he gets his chance.

The rest of their party has healed up enough to wander off for supplies and refreshments, but Rita is focused intently on whatever calculations she’s scribbling in that little notebook of hers. He puts it off as long as he can justify to himself. But he’s not getting any younger, and the princess isn’t getting any freer, so he clears his throat and says, “Yo, genius mage. You got a moment?”

“No.”

Okay, he shoulda seen that one coming. He puts on his most annoying voice, and says, “Please?”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“No. Shut up.”

“Pretty please with sprinkles and gumdrops and hot fudge sauce and - “

“Ugh, fine! What do you want?”

Now that he actually has her attention, he wishes he could go back to being insignificant background noise. She’s always had a killer glare, but this is more than just the usual teenage rage; this is anger and animosity and probably has something to do with him selling out her best friend (and first crush, he’s pretty sure) to an evil-genius general hell-bent on taking over the world.

Yeah. She might have some feelings about that.

He taps at his chest, where his heart is supposed to be (and they know, now, they all do, isn’t that strange), and can see her interest is piqued despite herself. “The way things are headed, there’s gonna be a fight with Alexei, and I just think I’ll be more help if I don’t, y’know. Drop dead in the middle of the action.”

She scowls, and sounds utterly unimpressed as she says, “What are you talking about.”

“Well, the Commandant’s gonna notice soon that the Schwann Brigade has broken off from his loyal followers. ‘spect he’ll switch off the old ticker as a precaution.”

Rita’s face twitches, like she’s fighting not to react to that. There’s a long moment of silence, then:

“Fine. Take off your shirt.”

Raven doesn’t make the obvious joke for a whole myriad of reasons. He shrugs his sleeves off, letting the fabric pool around his waist, still caught in his sash. It’s uncomfortable in a way he wasn’t prepared for, having his chest bared to scrutiny. Rita’s gaze is intent on the contraption that stands in for his heart, and he finds himself staring at the opposite wall, looking but not seeing. She doesn’t react to the mangled scar tissue that frames the core like a grotesque setting, but it’s Rita; she might just be too focused on the blastia to notice.

The door opens, and after a long pause he hears a weary sigh. “What the hell are you doing?”

Rita doesn’t look up from the blastia, and Raven doesn’t look away from the wall. “The structural design is pretty impressive,” she mutters, finally tapping to engage the formula interface.

(Schwann would stand at attention for ages, gaze fixed straight ahead as Alexei made whatever adjustments he saw fit. He never dared ask. It wasn’t his place to know. He was just a vessel, hollowed out to make room for the Commandant’s ambitions. Dead man walking.)

“Hey, old man. Hey.”

Raven blinks, coming back to himself with a start (when had he left?) and going nearly cross-eyed trying to see the fingers snapping in front of his face. “Whazzat?”

“You spaced out on us there,” Yuri says. His tone is casual but his eyes are knowing as he continues, “It’s a bit eerie.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Anyone care to explain what’s going on?”

Raven shoots for indifference and is pretty sure he falls short as he says, “Rita here is tryin’ to deactivate Alexei’s kill switch.”

“I’m not trying, I’m doing,” Rita mutters. “Now shut up and let me work.”

He zones out again as Rita taps away at his lifeline, but he doesn’t go back to _that_ place. Somewhere along the line, Judy and the kids come back. He can feel the kritya’s gaze on him (she and Yuri see too much, for so young) but she says nothing. Patty takes it in stride, chattering away about life on the sea.

(She’s still a kid, sure as Karol and Rita, but sometimes she gets a look on her face that’s eerily reminiscent of the Don, and he doesn’t know what to make of that.)

Raven almost misses the hologram blinking out, but then Rita stands back, looking grimly satisfied. “There,” she says. “I found two remote interfaces linked to your blastia, and severed the connections with both. The self-destruct mechanism was pretty nasty, but I disabled it entirely as an extra precaution.”

“I knew ya could do it,” Raven says, straining for jovial. He tries not to be too obvious as he tugs his shirt back up, hiding his false heart away. “Good as new, huh?”

“Whatever.” With that done, Rita seems keen to go back to ignoring him. Raven grimaces, and averts his eyes when Judy’s cool gaze catches his.

“Then let’s make sure to get some sleep,” Yuri cuts in. “Tomorrow we’re setting out for the Blade Drifts first thing.”

Raven presses a hand to the heart that’s truly his for the first time in ten years, and nods.


End file.
